THE IRRELEVANCE THAT IS PATRICK O’SULLIVAN

In a November 4 interview with Jay Onrait, who has a blog on TSN, Patrick O’Sullivan said the following in response to this question.

“ONRAIT: What’s been the most surprising thing playing for a Canadian team?

O’SULLIVAN: It’s definitely different coming from L.A. where nobody cared and after the game we’d have two people in the room waiting to talk to us. I didn’t know what to expect when I was traded and I didn’t know how I was going to like it. But to me, I think it’s great. You want to play somewhere where hockey is important. It’s everything and more that I thought it would be. The games are sold out and it’s a fun building to play in. Outside of the weather, it’s a great city. In my opinion if you want to live somewhere warm, you can do it when you’re done playing.”

This reminds me of Jason LaBarbera’s parting shots after he was traded for a 7th round pick. Nearly every Kings fan knew then, as we and the Vancouver Canucks know now, that 7th round pick was unnecessarily generous.

So, should Patrick O’Sullivan’s comments upset us?

No and here is why.

Patrick was irrelevant to our past. He was not the reason the Kings did not have success. He was an average hockey player who played an average game. He played that game here and based on what I have seen and read to date, nothing has changed. Though he had his fans, he, like any player who puts on the home team’s jersey, was given more credit than he earned and more blame than he deserved.

Patrick is irrelevant to our present. The Kings lost nothing with his absence. He brought little offense and what he did bring has been replaced in spades by Justin Williams. Looking at that trade with the utmost objectivity and putting Patrick at the peak of his game here in comparison, he is a shadow of Justin Williams’ skill set, character, contribution and production.

Lastly, Patrick is irrelevant to our future. In other words, he is easily forgotten.

Patrick, this Kings fan bears you no ill will. I won’t even boo you when you come back to Staples. You aren’t important enough to notice, much less acknowledge.